Veteran jockey Tyler Baze, who has not ridden since mid-April at Oaklawn Park, said on Sunday that he has recovered from recent surgery for bowel obstruction and gall bladder removal and is planning a return to riding in the near future. “I’m healing from surgery,” he said. “I’m a whole lot better. “The doctors cleared me to start doing something. I need to get strong and get fit again, strong enough to ride. I don’t want to go out there when I’m not 100 percent. I’m not rushing anything.” Baze said he was treated at an Arkansas hospital in April before he returned to his home in California. He said doctors gave him an eight-week recovery period, which he recently completed. :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  Baze, 40, won seven races at Oaklawn Park earlier this year. He has won 2,888 races in a career that began in fall 1999. Baze was the champion apprentice jockey of 2000 and was the leading rider at the 2001 spring-summer meeting at Hollywood Park. He has been a mainstay in Southern California in recent decades, and has spent time at Oaklawn Park in the last few years. Baze’s current absence is his longest since he suffered facial injuries in a gate incident at Del Mar in July 2010 and did not return until April 2011. On Sunday, Baze said he was uncertain how active he would be at the Del Mar summer meeting, which runs from July 21 to Sept. 10. Baze did say he is eager to return to riding. “I’m getting older and I don’t know how long it will take to get back,” he said. “I’m not used to doing nothing. It’s hard sitting around.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.